By JOYANNA LOVE / Senior Staff Writer

Storytime at the Maplesville Library had an air of excitement on June 12 as the Chilton County Extension Office began the summer Storytime program.

This year’s theme is All Bugged Out.

“We try to find things that the children will be interested in that is also something we deal with in Extension with 4-H,” Gay West, Extension regional agent, said. “Most children are interested in bugs, even if they don’t want to touch them, they like to learn about them.”

She said it’s something the office really enjoys.

“It’s so much fun,” West said.

West kicked off the first program by talking about beneficial insects and pests.

“Before you squish a bug, you really need to think about whether it is a good bug or a bad bug,” West said.

Some beneficial insects include the praying mantis and the ladybug.

Each is beneficial because they eat other insects that could eat crops, such as aphids.

West said the Extension Office has employees that help farmers by identifying whether an insect is a helpful insect or a pest.

“If you put all of the insects in the world together, they would weigh more than all the people,” West said.

Pam Ousley of the Extension Office also emphasized the importance of bees as a beneficial insect.

She said one of her favorite things to do in the summer as a child was to look for insects.

West emphasized the importance of not spraying for pests when beneficial insects are pollinating the flowers because it can kill the good insects along with the bad.

The children enjoyed creating some beneficial insects of their own with a ladybug craft and making edible bug-like creatures during snack time.

Seven-year-old Reed Crowe named his ladybug Marinette after the true identity of Ladybug in the “Miraculous” television series.

“I love it,” Crowe said.

He said there are a lot of ladybugs at the house he goes to for Thanksgiving.

Reed’s favorite part of the craft was drawing the spots. He also used pipe cleaners for the legs and added googly eyes.

Attendee Hannah Crowe said she wanted to come to the Storytime because “it’s fun.”

She said adding the spots was her favorite part.

Hannah said she learned “that a spider is not an insect” during the presentation. Insects have six legs, but a spider has eight.

Many of the children attend the program every year, and West and Ousley enjoy seeing how much they have grown.

Ousley said she had started as a volunteer with the summer story hour even before she came to the Extension and really enjoyed it. She likes having a theme each year.

“Our kids, especially in Maplesville are just real receptive to any kind of program we can offer, especially in the summer,” Ousley said.

The fun will continue each Tuesday in June at 10 a.m. The program is designed for 4 year olds to sixth grade.